UCT Graduate School of Business is hosting a conference under the theme Business of Social and Environmental Innovation (BSEI 2013) - Co-Innovation to Address Wicked Problems from 25-26 November 2013 in Cape Town.

Co-innovation to address wicked problems, how can businesses in collaboration and coordination with stakeholders, address complex socio-ecological problems which involve clashing values and conflicting interests? How can new approaches to innovation generate systemic transformations to tame ‘wicked’ problems? Learn more at this year’s BSEI conference.
Join us for this year’s BSEI conference to discuss the role of business, civil society and government in jointly addressing complex societal problems, such as climate change, rapid urbanisation, poverty, food insecurity, and environmental degradation. These problems are so challenging, so huge, so tangled in value conflicts and so difficult to grasp that they are downright ‘wicked’.
Does this mean that wicked problems are too cumbersome, too big, and too tough to be dealt with? No. But it does mean that wicked problems cannot be understood and tackled by returning to ‘business as usual’. Dealing with wicked problems requires a new approach to generating wider systemic transformations, comprising innovations that are complementary (e.g. technological change embedded into organisational and institutional change), coordinated (among different levels and sectors) and collaborative (e.g. joint effort by different societal stakeholders). There are no once-off solutions, as wicked problems can’t be ‘fixed’. Hence, this conference is not about solving wicked problems. But, and this is crucial - they can be addressed, they can be mitigated. There are better or worse possibilities for dealing with wicked problems. Considering that wicked problems not only trouble our societies in general, but affect each and every one of us, it’s high time to get engaged.
Let us get concrete. Let us discuss. How can the City of Cape Town design better policies by engaging its citizens? How can communities respond to local environmental problems caused by global trends? How can market actors and civil society join forces to promote institutional innovation? How can managers take on new leadership roles and make sense of the challenges facing their organisations?
With 35 accepted contributions, various thematic tracks, and Trevor Manuel (Minister in the Presidency), Bulelwa Makalima-Ngewana (Cape Town Partnership) and three leading international academics (May Seitanidi, Marlene Le Ber and Oana Branzei) as confirmed keynote speakers, BSEI 2013 promises to offer new insights and lively debates on key aspects of co-innovation to address wicked problems. Join us and share your experiences.

For registration and more information, refer to www.gsb.uct.ac.za/BSEI.

UCT Graduate School of Business is hosting a conference under the theme Business of Social and Environmental Innovation BSEI 2013 - Co-Innovation to Address Wicked Problems from 25-26 November 2013 in Cape Town Co-innovation to address wicked problems how can businesses in collaboration and coordination with stakeholders address complex socio-ecological problems which involve clashing values and conflicting interests How can new approaches to innovation generate systemic transformations to tame ‘wicked’ problems Learn more at this year’s BSEI conference Join us for this year’s BSEI conference to discuss the role of business civil society and government in jointly addressing complex societal problems such as climate change rapid urbanisation poverty food insecurity and environmental degradation These problems are so challenging so huge so tangled in value conflicts and so difficult to grasp that they are downright ‘wicked’ Does this mean that wicked problems are too cumbersome too big an